Villa went down to a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford, with all three goals coming inside the opening 33 minutes as Robin van Persie netted a hat-trick to help United clinch the title.

However, Vlaar and his defensive colleagues battled hard after the break to ensure there was no repeat of the 8-0 drubbing against Chelsea in December.

Villa remain just three points clear of the drop zone with four matches still to play and have a worse goal difference than relegation rivals Wigan Athletic, but Vlaar is confident they can stay up after limiting the damage at United.

He said: "It's a positive thing. We all know what happened at Chelsea and it didn't happen this time.

"Some people expected it but it's an improvement.

"The second half was a lot better, we had better positions, we didn't lose possession and kept the spaces a lot smaller.

"It was more difficult for Manchester United. We are four goals behind Wigan so we have to get enough points. Everyone feels responsible."

ood grief. Someone guessed that the form English player at the moment might be in his national side with some other players? And that's espionage? Now if they discovered that Emile Heskey was going to be in the starting line up.... at right back.... THAT would be espionage. Give it a rest Roy.